̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Xavier Moya

10 Cambridge spinouts forging a future for our planet

skbf2 — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 10:07:50 +0000

10 companies taking Cambridge ideas out of the lab and into the real world to address the climate emergency.

Zero-carbon refrigeration spin-out sets its sights on environmentally-friendly heating systems

skbf2 — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 15:18:44 +0000

Instead of using refrigerant gases with high global warming potential, Barocal’s technology uses new solid-state, temperature-changing materials. Cheap and non-toxic, these are organic materials that release and absorb heat at different pressures as they change volume. Known as barocaloric materials, they are more efficient than fluid refrigerants. And, as they are solids, they are more environmentally friendly and easier to recycle at the end of a product’s lifetime.

“Heating and cooling accounts for 38% of the UK’s CO₂ emissions,” said Dr Xavier Moya, who co-founded Barocal based on his research in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. “So the government’s commitment to a 78% cut in carbon emissions by 2035 means there is a growing need for new low-carbon domestic heating systems.”

"Current alternatives such as hydrogen boilers and traditional heat pumps," he added, "are expensive and not practical for many homes. Barocal's revolutionary new heat pump, based on non-vapour compression technology, holds the promise of a cost-effective, efficient and environmentally-friendly solution for domestic and commercial heating systems as well as air-conditioning and refrigeration."

̽��ֱ��£1.3 million investment in Barocal was led by IP Group plc. Cambridge Enterprise participated in the funding as part of a new sustainability initiative which, over the next four years, will support at least 15 of the ̽��ֱ��’s spin-outs and start-ups working on technologies that will rapidly cut emissions of global warming gases.

Through this initiative, Cambridge Enterprise recently joined in a £1 million investment in Carbon Re, a climate tech start-up using artificial intelligence to cut CO₂ emissions in the global cement industry and other energy-intensive sectors.

Investment Manager at Cambridge Enterprise, Chris Gibbs, said: "Barocal is the latest example of our early investments in transformative sustainable technologies. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs and academics with the potential to disrupt industries for the benefit of society and the planet."

In 2019, Barocal was the sole European finalist in the Global Cooling Prize—an international innovation competition designed to stimulate invention and production of super-efficient and climate-friendly residential cooling solutions. Established by a coalition led by the Government of India along with the Rocky Mountain Institute, the competition attracted 139 teams from 31 countries.

̽��ֱ��work on the technology began as a joint project among Cambridge’s Department of Materials and Metallurgy, the Polytechnic ̽��ֱ�� of Catalonia, and the ̽��ֱ�� of Barcelona. Barocal has a licence for the technology from Cambridge Enterprise.

Zero-carbon refrigeration pioneer Barocal has secured a £1.3 million investment to accelerate commercialisation of its novel technology designed to cut global CO₂ emissions. As the technology also works in heating applications, the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge spin-out now plans to explore the potential of its breakthrough for domestic and commercial heating systems—to provide a cost-effective, efficient alternative to expensive air source heat pumps.

Xavier Moya

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Electronic solid could reduce carbon emissions in fridges and air conditioners

sc604 — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 17:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��device is based on layers of a material composed of oxygen and three metallic elements known as PST, and it displays the largest electrocaloric effects – changes in temperature when an electric field is applied – yet observed in a body large enough for cooling applications.

̽��ֱ��results, reported in the journal Nature, could be used in the development of highly-efficient solid-state refrigerators and air conditioners, without the need for bulky and expensive magnets.

“When facing a challenge as big as climate change and reducing carbon emissions to net zero, we tend to focus on how we generate energy – and rightly so – but it’s critical that we’re also looking at the consumption of energy,” said co-author Dr Xavier Moya from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy.

Refrigeration and air conditioning currently consume a fifth of all energy produced worldwide, and as global temperatures continue to rise, demand is only going to keep going up. In addition, the gases currently used in the vast majority of refrigerators and air conditioners are toxic, highly flammable greenhouse gases that only add to the problem of global warming when they leak into the air.

Researchers have been trying to improve cooling technology by replacing these gases with solid magnetic materials, such as gadolinium. However, the performance of prototype devices has been limited to date, as the thermal changes are driven by limited magnetic fields from permanent magnets.

In research published earlier this year, the same Cambridge-led team identified an inexpensive, widely available solid that might compete with conventional coolants when put under pressure. However, developing this material for cooling applications will involve a lot of new design work, which the Cambridge team are pursuing.

In the current work, the thermal changes are instead driven by voltage. “Using voltage instead of pressure to drive cooling is simpler from an engineering standpoint, and allows existing design principles to be repurposed without the need for magnets,” said Moya.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge researchers, working with colleagues in Costa Rica and Japan, used high-quality layers of PST with metallic electrodes sandwiched in between. This made the PST able to withstand much larger voltages, and produce much better cooling over a much larger range of temperatures.

“Replacing the heart of prototype magnetic fridges with a material that performs better, and does not require permanent magnets, could represent a game-changer for those currently trying to improve cooling technology,” said co-author Professor Neil Mathur.

In future, the team will use high-resolution microscopy to examine the PST microstructure, and optimise it further in order to apply even larger voltages.

̽��ֱ��research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Royal Society.

Reference:
B. Nair et al. ‘Large electrocaloric effects in oxide multilayer capacitors over a wide temperature range.’ Nature (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1634-0

A bold response to the world’s greatest challenge
̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is building on its existing research and launching an ambitious new environment and climate change initiative. Cambridge Zero is not just about developing greener technologies. It will harness the full power of the ̽��ֱ��’s research and policy expertise, developing solutions that work for our lives, our society and our biosphere.

A promising replacement for the toxic and flammable greenhouse gases that are used in most refrigerators and air conditioners has been identified by researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

We tend to focus on how we generate energy – and rightly so – but it’s critical that we’re also looking at the consumption of energy.

Xavier Moya

Photo by Zulki Jrzt on Unsplash

Air conditioner

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Green material for refrigeration identified

ca450 — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 09:00:03 +0000

When put under pressure, plastic crystals of neopentylglycol yield huge cooling effects – enough that they are competitive with conventional coolants. In addition, the material is inexpensive, widely available and functions at close to room temperature. Details are published in the journal Nature Communications.

̽��ֱ��gases currently used in the vast majority of refrigerators and air conditioners —hydrofluorocarbons and hydrocarbons (HFCs and HCs) — are toxic and flammable. When they leak into the air, they also contribute to global warming.

“Refrigerators and air conditioners based on HFCs and HCs are also relatively inefficient,” said Dr Xavier Moya, from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, who led the research with Professor Josep Lluís Tamarit, from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. “That’s important because refrigeration and air conditioning currently devour a fifth of the energy produced worldwide, and demand for cooling is only going up.”

To solve these problems, materials scientists around the world have sought alternative solid refrigerants. Moya, a Royal Society Research Fellow in Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, is one of the leaders in this field.

In their newly-published research, Moya and collaborators from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and the Universitat de Barcelona describe the enormous thermal changes under pressure achieved with plastic crystals.

Conventional cooling technologies rely on the thermal changes that occur when a compressed fluid expands. Most cooling devices work by compressing and expanding fluids such as HFCs and HCs. As the fluid expands, it decreases in temperature, cooling its surroundings.

With solids, cooling is achieved by changing the material’s microscopic structure. This change can be achieved by applying a magnetic field, an electric field or through mechanic force. For decades, these caloric effects have fallen behind the thermal changes available in fluids, but the discovery of colossal barocaloric effects in a plastic crystal of neopentylglycol (NPG) and other related organic compounds has levelled the playing field.

Due to the nature of their chemical bonds, organic materials are easier to compress, and NPG is widely used in the synthesis of paints, polyesters, plasticisers and lubricants. It’s not only widely available, but also is inexpensive.

NPG’s molecules, composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, are nearly spherical and interact with each other only weakly. These loose bonds in its microscopic structure permit the molecules to rotate relatively freely.

̽��ֱ��word 'plastic' in 'plastic crystals' refers not to its chemical composition but rather to its malleability. Plastic crystals lie at the boundary between solids and liquids.

Compressing NPG yields unprecedentedly large thermal changes due to molecular reconfiguration. ̽��ֱ��temperature change achieved is comparable with those exploited commercially in HFCs and HCs.

̽��ֱ��discovery of colossal barocaloric effects in a plastic crystal should bring barocaloric materials to the forefront of research and development to achieve safe environmentally friendly cooling without compromising performance.

Moya is now working with Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, to bring this technology to market.

Reference:
P. Lloveras et al. ‘Colossal barocaloric effects near room temperature in plastic crystals of neopentylglycol.’ Nature Communications (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09730-9

Researchers from the UK and Spain have identified an eco-friendly solid that could replace the inefficient and polluting gases used in most refrigerators and air conditioners.

Refrigeration and air conditioning currently devour a fifth of the energy produced worldwide, and demand for cooling is only going up.

Xavier Moya

Jan Tik

Air

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